Why do solo train users take a table for 4?

Why should a group of 4 bagsy automatic rights to a table? By your argument, there's plenty of good 2x2 seats available. Perhaps that singleton wants to get some work done? Or just, heaven forbid, got there first?

I'm a regular train user, and if a 4 is available with a table, I'll often jump in there, for the benefit of having a table. But I'm happy to share if/when more people come along.

Not what your title said though.

If you think about how passenger carriages are laid out. Table seats only work in groups of four. In the Good Old Days of the 1980s, Intercity 125s were all tables. But you can fit in more seating airline style. So most modern layouts have only 4-8 tables per coach. They aren't designed for groups they are just part of a compromise to offer a choice of seating.

The tables are for anyone. They are obviously great for a group of 3 or 4 but if you don't get lucky you should have pre-booked. Or maybe politely ask to swap if you have a special need. I moved recently to let a couple sit together one of whom clearly had dementia and was refusing to sit apart from his wife. But I'll usually have a bag next to me until the train starts to fill up, when I'm happy to move it if asked.

If people really can't cope with sitting near, hearing or speaking to strangers maybe public transport isn't for them.

Because it's more likely to have a socket to charge my phone (which has my ticket on it), I can't always fully bend my leg, leaning forward on the table can take some pressure off my spine and the table itself is useful for pushing up from when the bits of my back that are buggered all conspire to send lovely bursts of pain across my body and my leg goes weak.

Other than that, because I want to.

Families of four are v common

And your post title said something different.

Why do solo train users take a table for 4?

They don't.

They sit in one of the four seats at a table because they are the best seats.

They don't know who else is going to join the train, or when.

If you want to seat four people at a table, book it or get on the train earlier.

Are tables designed for groups? I’ve never assumed that was the case.

They obviously attended the same school of thought that people on buses and trains attended,who think it's fine to take up the seat next to them with their bag, even when someone who is obviously disabled (i.e. on crutches). They then make a fuss about having to move their bag.

How many groups of four travel together anyway? Surely they're very much in the minority, so there's no point leaving four seats empty in case one turns up.

These tables were originally designed for groups, not to be « premium seats

So weird that I've been on trains for pretty much my whole life and never knew the tables were designed only for groups. You'd think British Rail would put a sign up on their trains to stop those pesky solo passengers making such faux pas.

Why do solo train users take a table for four?

This thread reveals that there are lots of possible reasons, none of them objectionable.

And also that people are very variable in what seat type they prefer.

So there's no point in self-sacrificingly taking your non-preferred option – there'll be bound to be someone who would have preferred it to the 'superior' option that you abjured.

I once knew a mother and daughter who for years both endured the inferior half of every single toasted teacake, because it didn't occur to either that the other was making the same thoughtful choice.

In short, sit where you like. Be polite and helpful. That is all.

PS the bottom half is superior, obviously.

There's 2 separate things here.
Choosing to sit by a table / booking a table seat as a single passenger is a perfectly valid choice. Using a laptop, eating etc are easier with a table and on some trains they are the only seats with charge points.

Using seats for bags, coats or anything else which isn't a human bottom is improper and the huffing is unnecessary.

Will also add that if seats can be booked (I know they can't on all trains) then the family of four can choose to pre-book seats together if they wish. Otherwise it's first come first served.

I hate sitting with strangers at a table, especially if others know each other and/or I’m trapped in the window seat. I only choose the table seat if there’s literally nowhere else.

IME it’s the families who don’t respect the space or peace of the travellers around them.

I imagine your huffing lady has experienced this also. HTH.

But you asked why they sat there at all!

This.

But many travel during office hours, or have meeting etc. as soon as they get there. Because you have the option to not work, doesn't mean others do too. I was expected to be logged in while on the train, as they were paying me for my time. I'd have been happy to switch off and read my kindle and if I could wangle a bit of time, that's what I did.

I’m a solo wheelchair user - I often get a table. I basically get seated at the convenience of the train company by a representative of Network Rail. I don’t get to pick and choose

I live on a commuter line from London and this happens a lot. I think it’s because some people want to use their laptops and other stuff, basically to take over the space as a personal office. I leave my work at work, and I’ve never understood working hours you aren’t paid for, but each to their own.

It might be annoying to families who want to sit together but there’s no rules to say they have priority. Why should they? There should be spaces for people with extra needs, of course, but otherwise, tough.

i sit in the flip down seats near the loo or take one of the double seats.

Huffing and puffing - not reasonable at all. But of course if it’s free then I’m taking the table seat! I’m amazed anyone would think it should only be left for groups.

Dd3 was looking at her! Was she JLo or something

As a lone traveller i wouldn't want to sit in the middle of someone elses family